Sérgio Galvão Roxo

Academic work and publications

Positions & affiliations

PhD Fellow — Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen — UiB profile ↗ — NVA research profile ↗ — ORCID ↗

Education

MA in Media and Communication — ESECS, University of Leiria and Oeste (formerly Polytechnic University of Leiria), Portugal

Postgraduate specialisation in Social Intervention with LGBTQIA+ Individuals (Especialização Avançada Pós-Universitária em Intervenção Psicossocial Afirmativa com Pessoas LGBTQ) — Instituto Português de Psicologia e Outras Ciências, Portugal

BA in Sound and Image — ESAD, University of Leiria and Oeste (formerly Polytechnic University of Leiria), Portugal

Research projects

2024–2028 — SURVIVING SOGICE, creator — PhD project, University of Bergen — survivingsogice.eu ↗

Publications

2026 — Harder, L. R., Johnston, D. J., Rettberg, S., Galvão Roxo, S., & Tang, H. “Extending Digital Narrative with AI, Games, Chatbots, and XR: How Experimental Creative Practice Yields Research Insights”. Humanities 15(1), 17 — doi ↗

2026 — Galvão Roxo, S. “Queer Media Productions in Social VR: Self-Expression, Documentation and Resistance Through VRChat”. Selected Papers of Internet Research (AoIR) — doi ↗

2023 — Galvão Roxo, S. “Seu nome era Gisberta”: Projeto de um non-fiction VR com exercícios de tomada de perspetiva. Master’s dissertation, University of Leiria and Oeste (formerly Polytechnic University of Leiria), Escola Superior de Educação de Leiria

2023 — Galvão Roxo, S., Brites, L. dos R., & Gomes, M. “Um Non-Fiction VR Chamado Gisberta”. In I International Conference on Media Innovation Book of Abstracts. Lisboa, Portugal

Conference presentations

21 October 2026 — “Beyond the Headset: Conceptualizing Storylistening, Storysensing, and Storyshaping in Immersive Narrative”, with Pedro Queirós Pinto — After Virtual Reality: Extending Immersive Narrative Symposium, Center for Digital Narrative, University of Bergen, Bergen

20 October 2026 — “YOUR UPDATE HAS FAILED: Making and Failing with Generative AI and the Weaponization of Care” — After Virtual Reality: Extending Immersive Narrative Symposium, Center for Digital Narrative, University of Bergen, Bergen

23 September 2026 — “Beyond the Headset: Storylistening, Storysensing, and Storyshaping in Immersive Narrative”, with Pedro Queirós Pinto — CDN Autumn Equinox: Open Research Day, Bergen

9–12 June 2026 — “Her Name Was Gisberta: VR Against Transphobia”, with Pedro Queirós Pinto — 8th Interactive Film and Media Virtual Conference (#IFM2026), Research creation, online — watch ↗

26–28 May 2026 — “When Anger Becomes Design: Queer Testimony, Harm, and the Making of Digital Worlds”, keynote — Northern Star Symposium 2026: Anger, Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, Bodø

20 March 2026 — “The Wrong Body: Diverse Bodies in Digital Narratives”, with Hannah Ackermans and Ella Holi — CDN Equinox Spring 2026, University of Bergen

15–18 October 2025 — “Queer Media Productions in Social VR: Self-Expression, Documentation and Resistance Through VRChat” — AoIR2025 “Ruptures”, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro

13–15 August 2025 — “Queering XReality: Exploring XR Creators’ Intentions for LGBTQIA+ Advocacy and Representation” — University of Southern Denmark

22–23 May 2025 — “They were looking for a ‘change’: Media and the Anti-LGBTQIA+/Gender Narrative in ‘Ex-Gay’ and ‘DeTrans’ Documentaries” — Sex and Politics in a Global Perspective, University of Bergen

5 May 2023 — “Um Non-Fiction VR chamado ‘Gisberta’ – Intervir através da RV para a Empatia e Redução da Transfobia” (A VR Non-Fiction called “Gisberta” – Intervening through VR to Empathise and Reduce Transphobia), conference poster, with Leonel dos Reis Brites and Marco Gomes — IPCE2023, XII Investigação, Práticas e Contextos em Educação

3 February 2023 — “Um Non-Fiction VR Chamado Gisberta” — INN2023, I International Conference on Media Innovation, ICNOVA, FCSH UNL, Lisboa, Portugal

15 December 2022 — “Um Non-Fiction VR chamado ‘Gisberta’” — I Virtual Reality Animation Conference, Faculdade de Belas Artes, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

Talks, lectures & workshops

1 June 2026 — “Queer Research at the Center for Digital Narrative”, presentation and panel — Bergen Pride: Queer Games and AI Resistance, University of Bergen

1 June 2026 — Workshop: Queer Games and AI Resistance, facilitator — Bergen Pride, Bergen

1 June 2026 — “Konverteringsterapi | SurvivingSOGICE” — Bergen Pride, Kvarteret, Bergen

16 March 2026 — Aula aberta “O seu nome era Gisberta”, with Sandra Cintra, Filipa Pais d’Aguiar and João Mesquita — Universidade Lusíada

29–30 April 2025 — “Can We Be Ethical in Virtual Reality?” — CDN Data Management and Research Ethics Workshop, Bergen

3 April 2025 — “Potentials of Virtual Reality in Creating Proximity with Audiences for Social Benefit” — Moody College of Communication

Media

14 April 2026 — Episode 46: “The Wrong Body; Diverse Bodies and Digital Narratives”, live panel with Hannah Ackermans and Ella Holi — podcast

4 April 2024 — Voices of VR, Episode #1363: “DIY 360 Video for Perspective-Taking and Investigating Murder of Trans Woman in ‘Her Name Was Gisberta’”, interview by Kent Bye ahead of SXSW XR Experience 2024 — podcast

Screenings of previous films

Queer Lisboa | Internacional Queer Film Festival

IndieCork Film Festival

Fringe! Film Fest, London

Festival Caminhos Cinema Português XX

“Ante-Estreias ESCR” – Cinemateca

Vilnius LGBT* Festival “Kreivės”

Rio Festival de Gênero & Sexualidade no Cinema

Verona Internacional Film Festival

Festival Curta o Gênero

Omovies Film Festival

Queer Porto | Internacional Queer Film Festival

The Bangalore Queer Film Festival

DIGO – Festival Internacional de Diversidade Sexual de Goiás

Kyiv International Short Film Festival

YMOTION – Concurso e Mostra de Cinema Jovem

FARCUME Festival de Curtas-Metragens de Faro

2Annas – Riga International Film Festival

DocAlliance – Cities and Places / Film Essay

Festival Impulso – Retrospetiva 2018